Vehicle wheel



March 16 1926.

A. L. P-UTNAM VEHICLE WHEEL Filed March 24, 1919 3144104 @3066 72/ain/m3;

3% 1 5 Hawk/0AM Patented Mar. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALDEN L. PUTNAM, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,OF

ONE-HALF TO MOTOR WHEEL CORPORATION, OF LANSING, MICHIGAN, A COB-PORATION OF MICHIGAN, AND ONE-HALF TO THE MIDLAND STTIEL PRODUCTSCOMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

Application filed March 24, 1919. Serial No. 284,715.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALDEN L. PUTNAM, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State ofMichigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VehicleIVheels, of which the followingis a specification, reference being hadtherein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to vehicle wheels of the dished disk type and itis the primary object of the invention to obtain a demountableconstruction which is reversible.

In the present state of the art dished disk wheels have been devised inwhich the dish of the disk crosses the central plane of the wheel orplane of impact, the inner portion being secured to the hub and theouter portion'to the rim on opposite sides of said central plane. Theadvantage of such construction is the added strength which is obtained,but by reason of the fact that the point of attachment to the hub is onone side of the central plane of the wheel. the

disk cannot be reversed without alteration in location of the tread. Onthe other hand, where the dishing of the disk is such as to bring thepoint of attachment to the hub in the central plane thereof, theconstruction is reversible but is not as strong.

To obtain the combined advantage of crossing the plane of impact and ofreversibility, I have devised a construction in which the disk is dishedfrom opposite sides thereof, the outer portion crossing the centralplane of impact and the inner portion returning to said central plane.With such a construction the wheel may be reversed without altering thelocation of the tread, while the strength and resiliency is even greaterthan where dished on one side only.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 'is a. section through the wheel;

Figure 2 is'a similar View showing the wheel in reversed position;

Figure 3 is a side elevation.

A is the hub of the wheel, which may be of any suitable construction,having an out wardly extending annular flange B. As specifically shown,this flange is, located upon the inner side of the central plane of thewheel and has the brake drum 0 directly bearing thereagainst, and a ringD on the outer side of the brake drum which forms a seat for the disk inthe central plane of the wheel. E are studs having shoulder portions Efor bearing against the ring D and clamping the same, together with thebrake drum C, to the flange B. These studs have outwardly projectingthreaded portions G for securing the disk through the medium of theouter clamping ring H and securing nuts I or other equivalent means.

My improved disk wheel comprises a center portion J which is preferablyparallel to the plane of the wheel and is adapted to seat against thering D and to be clamped thereto by the ring H. The inner end of thiscentral portion is preferably provided with a turned flange K whichbears upon a cylindrical portion of the hub A and alternately engagesrecesses L and M in the rings H and D according towhich way the disk isturned. Surrounding the central portion J is a dished portion Nextending upon one side of the central plane of the wheel, andsurrounding this portion is an oppositely dished portion 0 which crossesthe central plane of the wheel and at its periphery is secured to therim P by any suitable means, such as the clamping bolts Q, engagingaligned apertures in the disk and inwardly extending flanges R and R ofcomplementary rim sections. The disk is also preferably of a taperingcross-section, gradually dlm nishing from the gauge of the centralportlon J to that of the peripheral portion.

1th the construction as described, when the disk is mounted upon thehub, as shown 1n Figure 1, the portion N extends inwardly and theportion 0 outardly, giving a general concave form to the outer side.This arrangement is preferred for certain uses both on account of theappearance, which 1s pleasing, and for other mechanical reasons. On theother hand, with this arrangement of the wheel the tire inflation tubewill be arranged on the inner side of the disk; and where the clearancebetween the brake drum and the rim is small it is difficult to findaccess to the tube when the tires are to be inflated. However, byreversing the disk, as shown in Figure 2, the inflation tube will beexposed as indicated in dotted lines at S, which will avoid alldifliculty.

In addition to the advantages above described, my improved constructionof wheel has greater strength and resiliency than a single dished disk,while the appearance is also improved.

lVhat I claim as my invention is:

1. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with a hub and rim, of a. diskconnecting said hub and rim having two reversely dished portions, and anundished portion outside the dished portion and substantially horizontalrim-securing bolts passing through said undished portion.

2. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with a hub and a rim, of a diskhaving its main portion dished inwardly from the rim to one side of thecentral plane of the wheel, an oppositely dished portion of relativelysmall area adjacent the hub, and a securing portion substantially in theplane of impact.

3. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with a hub having a cylindricalportion and an outwardly extending portion adjacent to the central planeof the wheel, a rim, and a disk extending between said hub and rimhaving a central portion seated on the out wardly extending portion ofthe hub, a dished portion extending from said central portion to oneside of the central plane, and an oppositely dished portion extendingfrom first mentioned dished portion crossing the central plane andsecured to the rim on the opposite side thereof.

4. In a vehiclewheel, the combination with a hub and a rim, of a diskextending between said hub and rim having a portion adjacent to the hubin the central plane of the wheel and provided at its inner edge with aturned flange for hearing on the cylindrical portion of the hub, aportion outside of said central portion dished to ex tend on one side ofthe central plane of the wheel, a portion outside of said dished portionoppositely dished and crossing the central plane of the wheel, beingsecured to said rim on the opposite side of said plane, and clampingbearings for said disk on opposite sides thereof, said bearings beingcut away to receive the turned flange of the disk when turned witheither face outward.

5. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with a hub and a rim, of a. diskconnecting said hub and rim, having a gradually dished outer portion andan oppositely dished inner portion of abrupt inclination, and ofrelatively small area as compared to said outer portion.

6. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with a hub and a rim, of a diskconnecting said hub and rim, having an abruptly dished inner portion andan oppositely dished outer portion of gradual inclination.

7. In a vehicle wheel, the combination with a hub and a rim, of a diskhaving an inner portion substantially in the plane of impact, anadjacent abruptly dished portion.

and a gradually dished body portion crossing the plane of impact, andsecuring means engaging said inner portion.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature.

ALDEN L. PUTN AM.

